Fiduciary Family Office LLC Acquires Shares of 2,844 STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

Key Points

• Fiduciary Family Office LLC acquired 2,844 shares of STERIS plc valued at approximately $645,000, reflecting increased institutional interest in the medical equipment provider.
• Insider sales included CEO Daniel A. Carestio selling 17,626 shares, resulting in a 25.54% decrease in his stake, while Senior Vice President Cary L. Majors sold 12,828 shares, marking a 53.01% reduction.
• STERIS recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.57 to $0.63 per share, showcasing a strong financial performance and commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Fiduciary Family Office LLC purchased a new position in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,844 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $645,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of STE. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its position in STERIS by 165.3% in the fourth quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,599,730 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $534,400,000 after buying an additional 1,619,796 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in STERIS by 9.1% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,439,349 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $1,232,828,000 after purchasing an additional 452,146 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in STERIS by 35,759.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 410,237 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $92,980,000 after purchasing an additional 409,093 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in STERIS by 4,534.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 219,032 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $45,024,000 after purchasing an additional 214,306 shares during the period. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in STERIS in the fourth quarter worth $37,243,000. 94.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on STE. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on STERIS from $276.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on STERIS in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $263.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of STERIS in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of STERIS in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on STERIS from $277.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $273.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Daniel A. Carestio sold 17,626 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.56, for a total value of $4,275,362.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,385 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,463,945.60. The trade was a 25.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Cary L. Majors sold 12,828 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.08, for a total value of $3,208,026.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,843,909.76. The trade was a 53.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

STERIS Price Performance

Shares of STE traded down $1.20 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $241.66. 424,209 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 743,865. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.22. STERIS plc has a 12-month low of $200.98 and a 12-month high of $252.79. The company has a market cap of $23.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01 and a beta of 0.92. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $234.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $228.99.

STERIS (NYSE:STE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.02. STERIS had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 11.61%. The company had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that STERIS plc will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from STERIS's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. STERIS's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.92%.

About STERIS

STERIS plc provides infection prevention products and services worldwide. It operates through four segments: Healthcare, Applied Sterilization Technologies, Life Sciences, and Dental. The Healthcare segment offers cleaning chemistries and sterility assurance products; automated endoscope reprocessing system and tracking products; endoscopy accessories, washers, sterilizers, and other pieces of capital equipment for the operation of a sterile processing department; and equipment used directly in the operating room, including surgical tables, lights, and connectivity solutions, as well as equipment management services.